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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 679902, member: 57463&quot;]<b>The door to learning locks from the inside.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I enjoyed this topic. Thanks to all for sharing.&nbsp; I think that we agree that having the teacher or professor engaged is the key.&nbsp; We call it &quot;making learning fun&quot; but I resent that.&nbsp; It is either fun or it is not and yes we can find pleasure in hard work, but, really, fun is not what this is about.&nbsp; We are not frivolous, laughing, giddy.&nbsp; We enjoy this.&nbsp; We call that fun.&nbsp; Read <a href="http://www.ellensplace.net/ar_stamp.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ellensplace.net/ar_stamp.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> what Ayn Rand said about stamp collecting as an <b>intellectual pursuit.</b></p><p><br /></p><p>The problem is that the teachers are not having fun -- if you want to call it that.&nbsp; They get paid the same whether you learn anything or not.&nbsp; What other service works like that.&nbsp; Go to the drive thru, place and order and the bag might be empty?&nbsp; Tough luck...&nbsp; In a market scenario, teachers would rent their spaces and schools would be education malls.&nbsp; Then it would be interesting.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have done a bit of teaching as a substitute in middle schools and in adult education in college.&nbsp; I use coins and other artifacts whenever I can, to bring the subject to life, to give it reality, to engage the learner.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have a graduate class coming up this semester in History of Detroit.&nbsp; Everyone is focused race relations and the auto industry.&nbsp; Me, I&#039;m primed with Spanish Coins on American Banknotes from the Mayor Aldermen of Detroit. <a href="http://scoan.oldnote.org/states/mi/mi-detroit.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://scoan.oldnote.org/states/mi/mi-detroit.html" rel="nofollow">(See here.)</a>&nbsp; I have other examples, of course, from the times and places, and yes, automotive materials: tool checks, for instance.&nbsp; Know what those are?&nbsp; Exonumia: when you borrowed a tool from the shop crib, they put your ID number in its place, a brass tag with your Employee Number, so they knew who had the tool.&nbsp; I have Union pins. You got them when you paid your dues and each cycle was a different color, so you knew who was current.</p><p><br /></p><p>But, heck, Rome, Greece,&nbsp; ... railroad stock certificates .. .the middle ages...&nbsp; in fact, speaking of the Space Race...&nbsp; I have a medallion given out to workers at Kennedy Space Center made from a Saturn booster stage.&nbsp; IN fact, ahead of hte new semeser, I just refilled my Astronaut Pen with an Astronaut Ink Cartridge: writes in zero-G.&nbsp; I have tons of the stuff, badges, pins, photographs I took, John Glenn&#039;s autograph...&nbsp;&nbsp; ... meteorites... </p><p><br /></p><p>... but I digress...</p><p><br /></p><p>The point is that regardless of whether or not every student or client learner would be thrilled by looking at a Large Cent, the instructor should be motivated enough to provide the opportunity.&nbsp; And they don&#039;t.&nbsp; Incentives are always internalized.&nbsp; Good teachers are still out there.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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